After the Ship Goes Down
by Derry
Summary: Jack who?? Short piece about the REAL hero of Titanic - oh, and some of his mates from Horatio Hornblower


AFTER THE SHIP GOES DOWN   
by Derry  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situations aren't mine. Not sure who all of them do belong to. Some belong to history, I suspect. Some belong to Meridian and A&E, really. But not profit being made - so whoever does own them can't really demand compensation - I hope! G  
  
NOTES: I wrote this immediately after I'd watched Titanic for the first time. And, to be quite honest, I'm shamelessly transposing the personality of one character played by Ioan Gruffudd into another - call it a weird sort of AU G. And what the heck, surely we can also work in a blond, blue-eyed fellow officer and a few able seamen! This is just a totally unresearched quickly formulated buddy piece. It's probably hugely unrealistic. It probably contravenes history! But nonetheless, here it is. G  
  
Thanks to KritinaJ (leiamoody) and KellyBL from the hhfic list who pointed me in the direction of the real story of the Titanic and helped me truly discover what an absolute *champion* Lowe was!  
  
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After they had hauled the red-haired girl into the boat, Fifth Officer Lowe turned his attention back to silent water. Nothing but death out there.  
  
But it had seemed that way before he'd heard the shrill whistle that had lead them to one more survivor. He stared out at the water, almost if he could will one more life from it. It had taken so many, surely it could relinquish just one more.  
  
Nothing. No sounds, except the lapping of the waves against the side of the boat and the muttering from the people already safe within it.  
  
"No, please." He didn't know whom he was pleading with, but there had to be more. Even if it was only one more.  
  
Then his torch brushed over body and it seemed to move. Almost disbelieving, he looked again and it was true. A man in a lifejacket, half-draped over a large piece of timber. But it wasn't the man that moved. It was something else, something that he had covered with his body.  
  
"Over there!" Lowe shouted. He'd found them. He'd found his one more!  
  
As they drew nearer, he realised that beneath the lifejacket, the man was wearing the uniform of an officer of the White Star line. One of those brave enough to stay behind on the ship, Lowe realised. Once again, he felt the stab of shame at being safely aboard a lifeboat when the mighty ship went down.  
  
This man hadn't. He'd stayed aboard trying to help those left behind. And he *had* saved one! For as the boat approached, the small face of a child peaked out from behind him, on the piece of timber. She let out a small squeak of might have been fear or joy and, in her excitement, lost her balance and tumbled into the water.  
  
"Quickly, men, quickly! We've got to get to her!"  
  
The men rowed faster and with less caution. In less than a minute, they were alongside the timber and Lowe was dragging a wet, freezing, frightened, six-year-old girl from the water.  
  
"It's alright, love. You're safe now." He looked up and saw one of the men ready with a blanket to wrap around the child. "Here, love, go to Mr Matthews there. He'll make sure you're warmed up." He passed the child across and turned back to the frozen body that had probably saved her life.  
  
He reached out of the boat to turn the body over, even as one of the men said, "E's probably dead, sir."  
  
It was true but nonetheless Lowe reached out. The man deserved better than to be left here without anyone even looking to see if he could be saved. Lowe managed to turn the body far enough to see the face and gave a small gasp.  
  
"Kennedy!"  
  
For it was, Archie Kennedy, last seen on deck earlier that afternoon. Last seen laughing, as usual.  
  
And dead or alive, he was now coming into the boat. Dead or alive, he wsn't going to be left in the icy, wet graveyard.  
  
"Help me here, Styles!"  
  
"Sir?" The seaman was a little confused but still came across to lend a hand hauling the frozen form into the boat.  
  
Lowe searched frantically for pulse or breath but it was impossible to detect either in the cold sea air. Refusing to give up he began to slap Kennedy's face.  
  
"C'mon, man! Don't give up now. We've got you. C'mon back to us."  
  
And the corpse-like figure finally stirred. The eyes blinked open for the merest fraction of a second but Lowe's heart leapt with joy.  
  
"That's it!" He turned to the men. "Another blanket here, quickly."  
  
Even as he wrapped it around Kennedy's body, the latter murmured again.  
  
"Girl?"  
  
"We've have her. We've have you both."  
  
And for the first time in that entire damnable night, Fifth Officer Lowe smiled. They had them both. Not just one more, but two. And one of them a friend that he'd despaired of ever seeing again.  
  
Even if he never had another prayer answered again in his entire life, he would be content with this. He would be content until the end of his days.  
  
The End  
  



End file.
